- WHITEHEAD VS. KING MO AT DEC. 19 STRIKEFORCE

by Ken Pishna – MMAWeekly.com
Mike Whitehead on Wednesday confirmed an upcoming bout with Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal. The two will meet on Dec. 19 when Strikeforce returns to Showtime.

“I just want to keep busy. He’s got a big name going for himself and he’s up-and-coming and obviously wants to make me a steppingstone. That’s not gonna happen,” said Whitehead in a Wanderlei Silva video blog on YouTube. Whitehead trains with Silva at the Brazilian’s Las Vegas gym.

“You couldn’t ask for a better training partner. He doesn’t take a day, a minute, a second off from training. He’s always in here going 110 percent.”

Whitehead (24-6) last fought in June of this year, defeating Kevin Randleman at a Strikeforce event in St. Louis, Mo. He has lost just one bout in his last 16 attempts, that being to former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Renato “Babalu” Sobral.

Lawal (5-0) has quickly grabbed the attention of mixed martial arts fans, storming through the competition at Sengoku in Japan for his first four bouts. He finally landed on American soil in his last bout, defeating former UFC tournament champion Mark Kerr at an M-1 Global event in Kansas City, Mo. in August.

The Dec. 19 event, dubbed “Evolution,” also features the return of Cung Le. He will face Scott Smith. Also featured is a lightweight title unification bout between Strikeforce champion Josh Thomson and interim champion Gilbert Melendez, and a middleweight showdown between Matt Lindland and Renaldo “Jacare” Souza.